Sunday 1 February 2009

COMMON PURPOSE (submitted by ANON)

Charity reported over data protection issuesBy Pau... Charity reported over data protection issuesBy Paul Jump, Third Sector, 20 January 2009 Leadership training organisation Common Purpose named individual making FOI requests about its work to public authoritiesLeadership training charity Common Purpose has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office for alleged breaches of data protection law.The Northwest Regional Development Agency, which made the complaint, has also apologised to a person whose name it inadvertently passed on to Common Purpose after he made a request under the Freedom of Information Act about its dealings with the charity.The name was then included by Common Purpose in a list of previous FOI requests about the charity that it distributed to public authorities receiving new requests. The charity said it distributed the list to illustrate the high number of FOI requests being made about it and to help authorities decide whether to treat new requests as vexatious (6 August 2008, page 3).Some of the FOI requests come from people concerned that too much public money is being spent on Common Purpose courses for officials.The agency has written to Common Purpose to say it intended to inform the ICO about the list. The letter reads: "If you decide to disclose the list to third parties, then please do so only with the prior express written consent of any individuals who are named or otherwise identified."A spokeswoman for Common Purpose said advice from its solicitors and the ICO indicated it was not in breach of the Data Protection Act.
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2 comments:

John Oddy said...

I changed Anon’s comment into a topic mainly because I too have come across Common Purpose, I found them to be a very secretive organisation set up and founded by Labour. A charity that charges senior executives, senior police officers and senior members of Councils, NHS and Public Services to take courses in the benefits of the EU. I say secretive because apart from not donating a penny, which is what charities do, they had not filed any tax or expenditure forms to the Charities Commission. They also keep their list of clients very close to their chest and, after repeated requests, refuse to divulge their goals and ambitions.
People, who having been on these courses, reported feeling brainwashed and alienated after completing the intensive course. There are a couple of anti- Common Purpose groups who have claimed to have been threatened and intimidated by members of CP.
An altogether strange set-up, if you would like to try gleam any more information about them do a google search on them, you will not get past the second page of their web-site but just see what others say about them.

John Oddy said...

Here is one passage from Wikipedia….

[edit] Criticism
Common Purpose has been the subject of a series of publications circulated by writer Christopher Story,[9] a former adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,[10] and Eurosceptic [11] Brian Gerrish who claim that its aim is to control the United Kingdom and ultimately merge it into an EU police state. Gerrish has stated that Common Purpose wants "to kill you".[12] Similar criticism of the organisation has come from the Campaign for an Independent Britain, and the United Kingdom Independence Party, largely on Euro-sceptic ground: however, much of the criticism levied at Common Purpose UK is identical to that made in left-wing commentator George Monbiot's book Captive State, which condemned governmental and public organisations deliberately ignoring people's wishes and either side stepping or subverting the democratic process out of a sense of 'we know better'.
Common Purpose trustees recently issued a brief response to these criticisms on their website.[13]
Common Purpose has members in the NHS, BBC, the police, Parliament, the legal profession, many of Britains 7,000 quangos, local councils, the Civil Service, various levels of government, ministries, and many RDAs (Regional Development Agencies).[citation needed] Common Purpose involves networking and achieving the common aims of its members, and so with members in these positions of power.[citation needed]
Some websites claim that over £100 million of taxpayers money has been spent on Common Purpose courses alone, and say that this has been hidden from the public.[citation needed] Members names are not disclosed.[citation needed] It charges substantial figures for its courses.[citation needed] "Matrix" for example, costs £3,950 plus VAT, and courses for the high flying ‘leader’ can be as much as £5,950 plus VAT.[citation needed]

It’s all there for you to come to your own conclusions.